


Put Up a Fight

by xcourtney_chaoticx



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Happy Ending, Mind Rape, Missing Scene, Psychological Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-19 20:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5980035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xcourtney_chaoticx/pseuds/xcourtney_chaoticx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I’m surprised,” Kylo Ren circled him like a carrion bird, “No one has been able to get out of you what you did with the map.”</p><p>“Might wanna rethink your technique.”</p><p>Those were probably not his wisest words.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Put Up a Fight

**Author's Note:**

> Missing scene from 'The Force Awakens,' in which Kylo Ren tortures Poe Dameron for the location of the missing map piece and Poe begins to lose all hope.

If Poe was being truly honest, his torture at the hands of the First Order began when they hauled him onto the transport ship. There was a stormtrooper in gleaming armor rather than the usual white betaplast, a long cape flowing from her shoulders as she gave the order to execute the villagers of Tuanul. The stormtroopers restraining him kept him facing the horrible scene. Poe screamed, tried to run toward the massacre, felt tears streaming down his cheeks. His knees almost buckled, and he certainly would have fallen if not for the stormtroopers holding him.

He momentarily forgot himself as he was brought onto the ship they called the Finalizer, an immense Star Cruiser based on the old Imperial designs. He gaped at the massive hangar, unable to hide his amazement at its sheer size, before he was hustled along a series of corridors. _The First Order’s been working hard in the Unknown Regions, that’s for sure. So much for the Galactic Concordance…_ This was certainly something the Resistance would want to know about when he got back. He told himself he would get back.

The physical torture didn’t even particularly feel like torture. He was getting a beating, to be sure, and it hurt, but he could handle it, cuffed though he was and unable to fight back… not that he would have fought back. Poe knew better than to do that. Fighting back just meant the beatings would get worse, as if his ‘uncooperative’ behavior made it any better.

He isn’t left in his cell very long, but it’s enough for them to withhold food and water and beat him a number of times for the location of the disk. He didn’t give in, though, told them quite honestly he had no idea what they were talking about or where it was. They must not want to have wasted any time, because it felt rather like no time at all had passed when a set of stormtroopers came and took him from his cell. They were silent, no taunts or jibes, no answers when he asked where he was being taken.

The new cell had no bars, and the reason became abundantly clear as he was locked into a restraint chair, cuffed at his wrists and ankles. _Not very comfortable… not very convenient for a beating, either._ This did put a damper on his escape plans, however… not that he really had an escape plan. It wasn’t really a plan so much as a hopeful dream that someone would rescue him. Poe simply waited for the stormtroopers to come back, for the ineffective questioning and beatings to continue. He tried to count the time but wasn’t sure it worked tired and hungry as he was. The door whooshed open.

Poe picked up his head and hoped his sudden fear didn’t show in his face, worked to ensure only defiance would be seen there. That was easier said than done with Kylo Ren looking down at him from behind his mask. He felt blood sticking to his left temple, his lips cracked and dry, much of his body still sore from repeated beatings. 

“I had no idea we had the best pilot in the Resistance on board,” Kylo Ren’s modulated voice said, “Comfortable?”

If Poe were able to shrug, he would have. He made his reply as nonchalant as possible: “Not really.”

“I’m surprised,” Kylo Ren circled him like a carrion bird, “No one has been able to get out of you what you did with the map.”

“Might wanna rethink your technique.”

Those were probably not his wisest words. His captor did not reply, only reached out a gloved hand to him. _What is he doing?_ Kylo Ren didn’t quite touch his face, the gloved hand perhaps only-

Pain burst through his skull. He felt acutely the way Kylo Ren dug around in his mind for the information he wanted. Poe fought desperately to keep him out, straining against his shackles, trying to build every wall he could think of.

“Where is it?”

Poe leaned forward as best he could, told him hoarsely, “The Resistance will not be intimidated by you.”

Kylo Ren mimicked him, mocked him, hissed dangerously, “Where… is it?”

He dug deeper, looking now for obviously painful memories. Poe felt utterly violated and had no real way to fight back. He was not Force-sensitive. He tried, he really tried, but the pain was too much. He screamed, tears rolling down his face, his skull ready to split open, but he still did not give up the map. He couldn’t. This was too important. This was not a game. No one told Kylo Ren this was not a game, however, because that was exactly how he was treating his violent foray into Poe’s mind. The pain was blinding, consuming.

Kylo Ren pulled out every one of Poe’s most painful memories for him to relive. Poe was only a toddler, left with his grandfather, watching his parents fly away from Yavin 4 to fight for the Rebellion. He cried almost every night, not knowing why his parents weren’t there or if they would ever come back. Poe was six and watching his father struggle with his memories of the Rebellion, of the Battle of Endor, of the Galactic Civil War. Poe was eight and watching his mother succumb to her sudden, devastating, and ultimately fatal illness. She became so ill and frail so fast he hadn’t time to process it before she was dead. _It happened too fast. I didn’t even really get to say goodbye._ He wasn’t sure if he was screaming anymore.

/Are you going to give me what I want?/ Kylo Ren’s voice sounded in his head, /I can make this worse… so much worse…/

/Try me./

Again, not his wisest move, but Poe was nothing if not stubborn. This was his fight, and he would not give up. The pain somehow worsened. He might have screamed again. It seemed Kylo Ren had discovered something far worse than actual memories and went searching through his nightmares.

Death. So much death. That was what he truly feared, after all. Not his own death, but the deaths of those he cared about. He did not want anyone to die because he failed. Oh no… He should not have thought about failure. Kylo Ren dug deeper. It felt to Poe like he was being torn apart from the inside and it hurt so much and he only wanted it to stop, to end.

“I can make it end… this pain,” Kylo Ren told him, his voice strangely soft and familiar, “You only have to tell me where it is-“

“No!”

Poe screamed it, the shock momentarily pushing Kylo Ren from his mind. He almost cried from relief. He could hear his own breathing again, ragged and harsh and wheezing but there, reminding him he was alive. Poe’s respite did not last long. Kylo Ren attacked with new vigor, this time choking Poe to the point where he could barely breathe, hissing, “You will tell me where the map is.”

“I won’t,” he choked.

“You’re going to fail, Poe Dameron,” Kylo Ren told him, “You’re going to tell me everything I want to know. I have been playing nice up until this moment. I can take whatever I want from you, the best pilot in the Resistance. Your mind is mine. You cannot hide anything from me. You will fail in your mission.”

Poe was unable to reply. _Let him take. At least I can say I fought him._ His vision was beginning to cloud and grey at the edges. He gasped for air, realizing there weren’t actual fingers closed around his throat. Kylo Ren didn’t quite let him pass out, released him at the last moment, stood back as Poe coughed and wheezed and sucked in lungfuls of air. His throat was ragged and sore from screaming, from crying, from choking.

“Are you going to give me what I want?” Kylo Ren asked calmly.

“Nev-Never,” Poe choked out, “You’ll haf-hafta ta-take it.”

Kylo Ren looked almost disappointed, his frame seeming to sag momentarily, as if perhaps he did not want to do this. That did not stop him from doing it. Poe was weak and tired and hungry and thirsty. His strength was waning, but he couldn’t give up. _My mother would never give up._ The pain returned, maybe even worse than before, but Poe simply lacked the strength to scream, his body shaking in the restraints. Kylo Ren leaned in, whispered, “You’re a failure, Dameron. You are going to fail everyone, and no one is going to come save you because they will all be dead… not that they would come anyway. You’re alone now… entirely alone… and no one can end your suffering but me.”

A quiet sob escaped Poe’s throat. _No, he’s trying to hurt me. I can’t listen._ Still, he knew it was partly true. General Organa had told him in no uncertain terms that he was on his own if he was captured. He would be treated as a rogue, one man acting on his own, neither Republic nor Resistance able to confirm knowledge of his mission. No one was coming to rescue him. He felt his mental walls faltering. He was losing his fight, losing his will to fight. Kylo Ren continued digging, pushing aside memory after memory, looking without actually doing so, toying with Poe for the pleasure of torturing him. It was horrible, but Poe fought.

“Your will is admirable but foolish,” Kylo Ren told him after what felt like an eternity, “and I am running out of time. Tell me what I want to know.”

“N-No.”

“Then I will take it.”

Poe felt as though he were being stabbed between his eyes and screamed, louder than before, certain it would tear his throat apart. It lasted an eternity and only a moment. Then it was over. Poe’s body sagged in the restraint chair, his chest heaving, every breath shaking. He flinched as Kylo Ren’s mask appeared inches from his face. The modulated voice told him quietly, “You made this much harder than it had to be. Now, I am going to find that BB unit and dismantle it for scrap in front of you.”

“N-No! Please don’t do that! Please don’t hurt him-“

“I will watch you both suffer.”

Poe dropped his head back, sobbing weakly as Kylo Ren left the cell, left him locked up. He felt used and vulnerable and violated. He wanted to curl up into a ball. _I failed._ He’d fought so hard for so long, he was sure he could’ve won in the end, but Kylo Ren had simply overpowered him. In the end, Kylo Ren had taken what he wanted, just as he said he would. Now, Poe was going to die here, alone and scared and devastated. No one was going to rescue him. No one was going to rescue BB-8. Tears continued to stream down his cheeks. He couldn’t stop crying.

Time became irrelevant after that. He was guarded by a stormtrooper, awaiting his inevitable death, waiting for Kylo Ren to return with BB-8 to destroy them both. _Haven’t I endured enough? Why can’t he just kill me?_ Hopelessness washed over him. Poe didn’t even have the strength to cry anymore. He simply sagged in the chair and let the hopelessness consume him.

The door to the cell whooshed open, and another stormtrooper entered, saying, “Ren wants the prisoner.”

Poe somehow sagged even further. This was it. Kylo Ren had BB-8 and now they were both going to die. He wondered if he would at least be allowed to say goodbye, to apologize. His knees almost buckled when he was released, a blaster pressed into his side. Maybe his wounded mind was playing tricks on him, but this new stormtrooper didn’t seem to be handling him as roughly as others did. This stormtrooper led him through the gleaming corridors, finally leading him into a narrow one removed from any activity. Poe wondered what was going to happen to him now.

“Listen carefully… you do exactly as I say, I can get you out of here.”

Poe gaped at the stormtrooper.

“If-? What?” he stammered.

The stormtrooper pulled off his helmet, and for Poe, in that moment, he was the most beautiful being in the galaxy. He had rich, dark skin and lovely full lips and beautifully deep brown eyes, and maybe this stormtrooper looked a bit afraid… yet he also looked determined, had a soft quality to him, something that told Poe this man could be trusted. Poe was still somewhat dazed and his stomach felt like it was going to eat itself, but he felt something else now, something he hadn’t dared to feel yet: hope.

“This is a rescue,” the other man told him, “I’m helping you escape. Can you fly a TIE fighter?”

“Are you with the Resistance?”

“What? No no no, I’m breaking you out. Can you fly a TIE fighter?”

Hope flared again in Poe’s chest, bright and warm and lovely, as he replied, “I can fly anything. Why-Why are you helping me?”

The other man adopted a somber mien, said, “Because it’s the right thing to do.”

Poe simply looked at him for a moment, hardly believing this was real, thinking perhaps it was just another of Kylo Ren’s mind games, just another part of the torture. Why else would Poe be here in a side corridor with this lovely man rescuing him, with this darling boy that was such a poor liar?

“You need a pilot.”

“I need a pilot,” the man agreed, seeing he was caught.

Poe felt himself smile in spite of himself, hope still burning bright. He knew somehow he could trust this man, knew it as innately as he knew how to fly.

“We’re gonna do this.”

“…Yeah?”

The stormtrooper smiled, just the beginning of a grin, a smile that was bright and warm and sweet but most of all, the smile was hopeful. Poe felt his own hope rise up, and even if this was a trick, Poe felt ready to run. He wanted to keep seeing that smile. He would fight for that.


End file.
